It has rained all June, then yesterday was gorgeous sun, and then today, my window looked like this:

It was rainy all day, until about 4 pm, then the sun came out.

The clouds have been fantastic--so many different sorts, so many different colors and shapes.

So, just now I took a walk on the property behind the church, because I knew there were lots of cattails there. They were at just the right point--I collected some of the pollen. When I was finished, it looked like I was carrying a little bag of gold dust--the pollen is golden yellow.

I will see whether it's truly nice in pancakes and report back.

It's pretty there--much of the lawn is adrift in clover, then other parts are covered in wild strawberries--I ate one.

wakanomori called from Japan; the tall one has plans to make the ninja girl's art famous over there.

I haven't done any performance art in his absence, but I have cleaned the bathtub. And, babydriver, I may well get to the venetian blinds! And I have been exploring new life and new civilization, and as you can see, doing plenty of posting to LJ. And seeing lots of movies.

On the walk back, I noticed the rabbit-foot clover is coming into bloom--so pretty. No camera, but here's a google pic:

And I passed a house which rents out many rooms, and up in one room I could see the window sill was lined with books and a flower vase--I think it's my room in an alternate reality.

I am collecting book recommendations from my lj friends, and I'm going to put this on my list right now! And the other one too about the prayer wheel (must go back to your journal to get the proper title), because I love everything you've posted from it.

One thing I've fantasized about making one day is an almanac, with pictures of plants, weather, birds, etc., through the year--so maybe one day...and speaking of almanacs, here is one of my favorite poems--it's a sestina, which means that it uses the same key words in different positions in each stanza of the poem:

Sestina, by Elizabeth Bishop

September rain falls on the house.In the failing light, the old grandmothersits in the kitchen with the childbeside the Little Marvel Stove,reading the jokes from the almanac,laughing and talking to hide her tears.

She thinks that her equinoctial tearsand the rain that beats on the roof of the house were both foretold by the almanac,but only known to a grandmother.The iron kettle sings on the stove.She cuts some bread and says to the child,

It's time for tea now; but the childis watching the teakettle's small hard tearsdance like mad on the hot black stove,the way the rain must dance on the house.Tidying up, the old grandmotherhangs up the clever almanac

on its string. Birdlike, the almanachovers half open above the child,hovers above the old grandmotherand her teacup full of dark brown tears.She shivers and says she thinks the housefeels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove.

It was to be, says the Marvel Stove.I know what I know, says the almanac.With crayons the child draws a rigid houseand a winding pathway. Then the childputs in a man with buttons like tearsand shows it proudly to the grandmother.

But secretly, while the grandmotherbusies herself about the stove,the little moons fall down like tearsfrom between the pages of the almanacinto the flower bed the childhas carefully placed in the front of the house.

Time to plant tears, says the almanac.The grandmother sings to the marvelous stoveand the child draws another inscrutable house.

You know, I love that poem so much, I might make a post of it one day :-) I've always wanted to illustrate it--I can see it so clearly.

You like that one too? I love it **so much**! I really will illustrate it one day (that, and the poem about the redneck and his black girlfriend carting their worldly possessions around on a giant skateboard that you posted, remember that?)

No, I haven't tried writing one; I can imagine it would be hard though. I did try writing a pantoum, though I don't think the result ended up being worth saving!

(2)... haven't actually gotten to them yet... and if you get to yours regularly once a year, I'd say you have me beat(3) if you know some good ones that are available on iTunes, let me know! deponti of course knows tons, but I don't think they're all available--and I don't want to just search blind....

I forgot to tell you - I was walking with my baby in the stroller last evening and I suddenly noticed this plant and knew it was "Rabbit foot clover" thanks to your photo/post! Was nice to know the name of it - it looked so lovely in the edges of the park growing in the midst of bushes!

Just got connected (after exactly a week here) and have _so_ enjoyed catching up. The tall one's asleep in the next room, but he just laughed aloud--as if he were still enjoying the day's activities/conversations. It was another packed day, but one step easier than yesterday, which had given me a sleep deficiency load that unfortunately caught up with me: I didn't wake from my nap between sessions until the meeting time for the day's last event, and I was at home, 15 minutes by bike from the meeting place. Argh. なんとかして、it ended up okay, but I'll have to set an alarm even for naps now *_*

Here we have finally been promised 4 days of sunshine, including a weekend--yay! The Tall One pointed out, true to his ever-positive outlook, that when the weather forecasters have been wrong here it's always been in our favor. There'll be more rain, doubtless, but I need to practice my umbrella&bike skills anyway.

[soundscape] the fierce and bossy crows that run the garbage disposal biz round here, trying some sort of morning caw-rus (sorry!)

The rest of the forest creatures are enjoying Fantasia 2000 right now... I have a date with our vacuum cleaner (not to vacuum but to investigate why it sounds like it's dying... well, maybe I'll save it for daylight hours... memories of the stove...)

and if not the vacuum cleaner, maybe the dust cloth--have to dust off the board books and pack them away to make room on the bottom shelf for the books that so dramatically lowered their center of gravity the other night!

I like the sound of your crows--too bad you can't hire them to be your alarm clock. A really smart crow? Tapping at your window?